"I'm feeling a whole new batch of tunes coming on," said Billy McLaughlin as he fiddles around with new tunes at his house, September 23, 2009. McLaughlin is staging a comeback after relearning how to play his guitar after being diagnosed with focal dystonia--a neurological movement disorder. He taught himself how to finger with his right hand. The ring finger and pinkie of the left hand are curled inward and pull into his palm.
(Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

Billy McLaughlin adjusts the strings on his guitar with his left hand, before playing at home, September 23, 2009. His ring finger and pinkie are curled in while his other fingers do the work. He was diagnosed with focal dystonia--a neurological movement disorder, marked by involuntary muscle spasms.
(Pioneer Press: Jean Pieri)

After a neuromuscular disease crippled his left hand, Minnesota guitarist Billy McLaughlin taught himself how to play with his right hand, a feat Leo Kottke once said was like “trying to breathe through your feet.”

This past fall, Twin Cities Public Television debuted “Starry Night,” a McLaughlin concert/documentary that told his story. On Friday, Feb. 15, McLaughlin will repay the favor by headlining St. Paul’s O’Shaughnessy auditorium in a concert that benefits TPT. The O’Shaughnessy was the site of McLaughlin’s first concert in 1988, so he will be playing some material from that show, as well as music from “Starry Night” and some new work.

On Saturday, Feb. 16, First Avenue hosts the eighth installment of the ever-popular Bassgasm, an evening billed as “the Twin Cities’ biggest, funnest electronic dance music superevent.” It features dozens of DJs spinning on five stages throughout the building from 5 p.m. to 2 a.m. The lineup includes local and national DJs, including DJ Fresko, DJ Hype, Reid Speed, DJ Fei Fei, Man at Arms, Sandra Collins, DJ Spree and Woody McBride.

Jack McNally‘s name graces the school he co-founded, St. Paul’s McNally Smith College of Music, and now it’s emblazoned on “Take Time,” a 12-song album McNally just released after spending nearly three decades working on it. It’s an extremely commercial collection of country-tinged songs recorded with McNally students and faculty, as well as Grammy-winning producer/engineer Ed Cherney, who’s on the school’s board of directors. McNally will host a free CD-release show Friday, Feb. 15, at the school’s Sound Bite Cafe. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman, who takes guitar lessons from McNally, will make a guest appearance.

Ed Kowalczyk led the band Live throughout the ’90s, scoring overwrought hits like “Selling the Drama” and “I Alone.” Relations between Kowalczyk and the band soured, however, with the rest of Live suing him for, among other things, taking control of the group’s publishing without telling anyone else. Kowalcyzk left Live in 2009. The band has hired a new lead singer and plans to release a new album. Kowalcyzk, meanwhile, released a solo album, “Alive,” in 2010 and is on an unplugged tour called “I Alone Acoustic.” He stops by the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant on Sunday, Feb. 17.

Mississippi singer/songwriter Charlie Mars visits the Dakota on Monday, Feb. 18. He played numerous local shows to promote his last album, 2009’s “Like a Bird, Like a Plane,” thanks to strong support from Cities 97. Now that he has a new disc out, “Blackberry Light,” expect to see him a few more times this year.

Finally, the Minnesota Orchestra remains silent amid bitter contract negotiations, but fans can pick up a new CD featuring the orchestra released by Swedish label Bis Records. It’s the second recording of the orchestra’s acclaimed Jean Sibelius symphonies series and includes the First Symphony, the work that confirmed Sibelius’ status as a hero in his native Finland, and the more stark, emotional Fourth Symphony. The orchestra’s first Sibelius disc earned a Grammy nomination.

A Minnesota native, Ross Raihala joined the Pioneer Press as pop music critic in 2004, after stints at The Forum in Fargo, N.D., and The Olympian in Olympia, Wash. He covers local and national music as well as some theater and other arts and entertainment topics. His favorite part of his job is reviewing, and live tweeting, Twin Cities arena concerts. And, yes, he saw the same show you did.

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